The Drama Between Taylor Swift & The Former Classmate Who Called Her Out, Explained
Taylor Swift is the biggest name in the industry right now. Between the constant paparazzi following her and the iconic Eras Tour, she has easily cemented herself as a pop icon. Swift has also been praised for her empathy and kindness. She even has a song, "Mean," that outlines the struggles people can go through when others say hurtful things, which added to her image as America's sweetheart.
Apparently, though, Swift wasn't always the kindhearted pop singer that her fans know and love. In September 24, Tik Tok user Leanne Mahoney added to Swift's list of controversies by bringing up some alleged behavior from their time in high school together. According to Mahoney, she got pregnant, and Swift made some hurtful comments about Mahoney's unborn baby.
Former classmate CALLS OUT Taylor Swift and shares a message directed at her on a TikTok post.
"Message for Taylor Swift: 20 years ago this month, things were different. Back then, I can confidently say she didn't believe in abortion. During that time, while CMT was filming at... pic.twitter.com/Ei7IylcH1A
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) September 15, 2024
From the start of the video, it's apparent that Mahoney is no Swiftie. She says that she did not give her son up for adoption and actually raised him herself, clarifying that her son is "alive and well". At this point, Mahoney's son is 19 and according to her, very successful for his age. "He graduated high school. He's already ran his own business," Mahoney explained, tacking on the fact that he no longer lives with her. Then, Mahoney turns the focus onto herself, going on to say that since high school she's gotten her master's, "that I rightfully earned." This is a major jab at Swift who received an honorary doctorate from New York University without having ever taken a class. The video ends with Mahoney saying, "Instead of me telling it all, I'm gonna let you do the telling now," leaving the ball in Swift's court to respond.
That's not the truth, Leanne
Mahoney made some bold claims in her TikTok. One of those claims is that Swift had done a complete 180 with her political beliefs since high school, which would make sense considering all of the things she's openly said about Donald Trump. However, it wasn't long before Swifties got to work on fact-checking Mahoney's story and found holes almost immediately. Thanks to an added X note on the original post, it became clear that Mahoney's claims of being in Swift's class were false. In Mahoney's initial video she claimed to be 16-years-old and in Swift's class in 2004, but the CMT documentary that Mahoney cited was actually a WSMV interview with Swift that didn't happen until 2005. To go even further, Swift was only 14 in 2004, which puts her and Mahoney in different grades.
As the backlash grew, Mahoney posted an Instagram Story saying (via Daily Mail), "I'm not going to completely point the finger at Taylor, our high school, or the camera crew from all the different shows who were there recording her." As she continued to be called out, Mahoney reportedly backtracked even more, which urther convinced Swifties that this whole thing was a scam. Not only was Mahoney's timeline proven wrong, but some Swift fans found old tweets from 2015 that showed her tagging and begging the pop star to donate to a veteran's GoFundMe. The Daily Mail reported that Mahoney eventually deleted all of her social media and was hospitalized with anxiety and depression from the backlash.